John Calvin (10 July 1509 – 27 May
1564) was one of the most influential
Christians of the last millennium. An
influential French theologian and pastor
during the Protestant Reformation,
Calvin was a principal figure in the
development of the system of Christian
theology later named after him.
Originally trained as a humanist lawyer,
he broke from the Roman Catholic Church
around 1530, and after religious
tensions provoked a violent uprising
against Protestants in France, Calvin
fled to Basel, Switzerland, where he
published the first edition of his
seminal work Institutes of the Christian
Religion in 1536. Calvin was a tireless
polemic and apologetic writer who
generated much controversy. He also
exchanged cordial and supportive letters
with many reformers, including Philipp
Melanchthon and Heinrich Bullinger. In
addition to the Institutes, he wrote
commentaries on most books of the Bible,
as well as theological treatises and
confessional documents. He regularly
preached sermons throughout the week in
Geneva. Calvin was influenced by the
Augustinian tradition, which led him to
expound the doctrine of predestination
and the absolute sovereignty of God in
salvation of the human soul from death
and eternal damnation. Calvin's writing
and preachings provided the seeds for
the branch of theology that bears his
name. The Reformed and Presbyterian
churches, which look to Calvin as a
chief expositor of their beliefs, have
spread throughout the world. Calvin was
mostly concerned with reforming the
Church, both in terms of doctrine and in
terms of how the Church preached and
persecuted. He covers all these topics
in these commentaries.